Made to be Broken

Honestly, I have always purchased wine glasses with the idea that they were made to be broken. Why would you spend $20 for a stem that some clumsy, yet beloved, dinner guest is just going to let slip through their fingers and smash into a million tiny pieces onto your kitchen floor? I will admit that in the last couple of years, I have been know to spend upwards of $3 on a stem, but there are perfectly great ones available out there for cheap.

Crate and Barrel has their Everyday Wine Glass on sale right now for $11.95 for a dozen. It's a bargain! When one breaks, just laugh it off and pull another from the cabinet. Buy TWO sets and live a happy and carefree life for years. They also have their Six Grand Wine Glass set for $8.95. While not quite as good of a bargain, it's still dirt cheap. That's $1.49 per glass for those of you without calculators or math skills. Again, you can afford to stock up AND to break a few.

If you want totally dirt cheap, say you want everyone to throw their wine glass into your fireplace after each course, then the IKEA Hejsan is for you. At only $2.99 for a set of six, they are unbelievably affordable. You can't get them on-line, but there's a store opening here this fall so you can just pick some up on your next visit. While the stemless goblet concept is a little overdone, they do have these little tumbles which would be perfect for a casual look.

Mind you, I'm not saying only have cheap, simple stemware. I'm just saying glasses like this are perfect for parties, but it's a good idea to have something nicer to use at the table where things are less likely to get broken. Multiple sets of stemware? But of course.

Mangez!